


Cupcakes with Bittersweet Frosting

by SymphonicWinds



Category: Emma Approved
Genre: F/M, Jealous!Harriet, Onesided Harriet/Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 08:54:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2103354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymphonicWinds/pseuds/SymphonicWinds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from promptaholics: While in the car with Harriet, Alex starts talking about Emma. The jealousy starts to bubble in Harriet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cupcakes with Bittersweet Frosting

Harriet always enjoyed carpooling with Alex Knightley. And with her newly found feelings, she found herself looking forward to the event even more. She waited outside her apartment complex, wearing an outfit that Emma had deemed as “Emma Approved”, waiting for her Knight in Shining Armour to arrive.

And sure enough, her phone buzzed in her purse, alerting her of Mr. Knightley’s presence. She fumbled with the clasp of her purse before eagerly taking the call.

"Harriet?" The sound of Alex’s voice always made Harriet’s heart race. "I’m going to be a couple minutes late; Emma made me pick up some stuff for a sweets shop nearby. Is that okay with you?"

"What? Oh! Yes, it’s fine. It’s for Annie’s baby shower, right?"

"Yeah, she wants samples. I don’t really know why she can’t pick them up herself, but that’s Emma for you."

"I-I guess so?"

"Anyway, I’ll be there in a bit. So wait for me, okay?"

"Okay! Um, see you, A-Alex."

"See you soon."

Harriet could feel something burning at the back of her throat- unable to identify it, she waved it off as part of her anxiety to spend time with Alex. She turned on her phone and went on Pinterest to distract herself.

Within a few minutes of launching Pinterest, Harriet heard a loud honk from nearby, making her immediately turn off her phone in alarm. She looked up to see Alex waving at her and Harriet nearly ran to him.

"Sorry about being late," he said, as she climbed into the passenger’s seat. "But if Emma tries to give you trouble about it, I’ll talk to her. It was her idea to get me to pick this stuff up, after all.” He gestured to the frilly pink box between them, labelled as Joanna’s Bakery in a stylistic cursive.

"It’s okay! I’m sure Emma won’t mind." Harriet gave him a quick smile before looking away.

A few minutes of silence passed between them as Alex drove out of her apartment’s parking lot and towards their office. Harriet tried to start a conversation, but ended up stopping herself out of nerves. Finally, Alex spoke.

"Have you made any new songs recently? I liked Breathe and Believe."

"You did? Oh! T-Thank you," She could feel her cheeks burn in embarrassment. "I’m working on a new song, but it’s not quite done yet. I-It’s called Behind the Scenes.”

"What’s it about?"

"It’s…" Harriet’s voice trailed off as she struggled to find the right words, "about finding where I belong. B-but that’s just a general idea! I’m still working out all the details and I haven’t even started thinking of what I want to do with it musically-“

"Harriet." Alex cut her off, making Harriet falter and look down nervously, "I’m sure it will be great. All of your songs so far have been fantastic, so don’t sweat too much, okay?"

"Okay," she replied back, nodding swiftly before turning away.

A few moments pasted between the before Alex continued, “You know, Emma really likes your songs too. She’s the one who showed them to me in the first place.”

"She did?" The unease Harriet felt started to rise again; she ignored it and concentrated on what Alex was saying.

"I think she showed just about everyone your first song. She’s very proud of you, Harriet.”

"I see." Harriet looked away, biting her lip in order to keep her distracted from the nervousness that was building inside of her.

"Are you feeling okay? You’re looking kind of flushed…"

Harriet nearly jumped out of her seat in alarm, caught off guard by Alex’s worried expression, “What? Oh no! I’m fine! I-I’m just… worried about my car! It’s still in repairs and I still haven’t found a ride to the Boxx opening so…”

"Do you want me to ask Tony for a rush job on your car? I’m sure I’ll be able to ask him for a favour…"

Harriet’s eyes grew wide with shock and immediately stammered, “What? Oh! No, it’s fine! I don’t want you to be indebted to him on my behalf! I’m sure that it’ll be fine by Boxx. If anything I guess I can catch a cab there…” She fiddled with the strap of her bag as her anxiety grew; what if her car couldn’t be fixed on time? She didn’t want to take a cab alone…

Noticing her nervousness, Alex patted her on the shoulder, “Look, if your car isn’t fixed by the Boxx opening, you can take a ride with me.”

"Are you sure?" she asked, in a hushed tone. If they were to go together, people would think that they’re dating! Unless… he wanted that?

Harriet immediately thought back to her previous conversation with Emma, when they were discussing her crush on Alex.

_Let his actions guide yours._

She glanced back at Alex, not realizing that he was speaking to her. Immediately, she broke herself out of her train of thought and listened to what he had to say.

"…I’m already picking Emma up too, and your houses aren’t that far apart so it wouldn’t be any trouble." he said, nonchalantly.

The hope that was building up in Harriet was immediately crushed at the sound of Emma’s name.

"… Emma’s coming too?" the words left her mouth before she could stop them.

"Yeah, she nearly pounced on me about it after hours. Emma is terrible at driving and the Hills are far from her house so she insisted on me taking her. But I’m sure she won’t mind if you were to come with us.” Alex shot her a small smile, which brought up Harriet’s mood slightly.

The unsettling feeling was clawing its way up Harriet’s chest; she gripped on her clutch and tried to force it away with no avail. Trying to bite back the feelings that were churning inside of her, she smiled at Alex and said, “It’d be great if you could take me… and Emma there.”

"Great! I’ll probably be at your house at seven? Depending on whether Emma wants to ‘add some final touches’ to me." He rolled his eyes, making Harriet giggle in spite of herself.

"Seven sounds fine," she replied, still on edge with the growing feelings inside of her.

"Great." They remained quiet until Alex had turned into the Emma Approved Offices, when Harriet’s iPhone started to ring loudly. She glanced at Alex before taking the call.

"Harriet? Where are you and Alex?" Emma’s breathless voice was on the other line. The unsettling feeling that was already dominant in Harriet’s mind nearly took over at the sound of her boss’ voice. She tried to look away from Alex as she tried to keep her cool. "We’re just pulling in," she said, her voice uncharacteristically cool.

Emma sighed in relief. “Does he have those samples I asked him to pick up?”

"Yes, Emma." Despite her efforts, the malicious feelings were overwhelming her. Yes, they were definitely bad, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was making her so angry.

"Great! Do you mind telling him to bring them up to my office, pronto?"

"Why don’t you ask him yourself? You do have his number…”

Before Emma could reply, Alex tapped Harriet lightly on the shoulder. “Do you want me to handle it?”

Harriet handed her phone to him without a word. She watched him talk to her, his face already lighting up from their conversation. It wasn’t until when Alex quickly exited the car, sweets in hand without her that she realized what the feeling was.

It was jealousy.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic took me two weeks to write -headdesk- writing slump, indeed. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it~


End file.
